Pizzonia Happy to be Back in Action

Antonio Pizzonia was happy to be back in competitive action after driving the second Williams in today's practice for the German Grand Prix.

Pizzonia is making his comeback as a replacement for injured German Ralf Schumacher after being dropped by Jaguar last year. The Brazilian driver, taking over from Spaniard Marc Gene, has not raced since last year's British Grand Prix.

"We had two productive sessions today," said Pizzonia, fifth quickest today. "As it was the first time I've driven at Hockenheim in a Formula One car, I spent most of the time getting to know the secrets of the track, and how the FW26 behaves around this circuit.

"When I raced here in F3000 I really liked the circuit and once I finished in first - on the old circuit, which is a good omen. We will have to wait and see what qualifying will bring tomorrow, but I'm looking forward to a good session.

"It's good to be racing again and I must say thanks to the team for having offered me this great opportunity."

Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya, last year's runaway winner from pole position in Germany, was third on the timesheets.

"It was a good day," said the Colombian. "I had some small problems in the morning but the afternoon session was a lot better. The car was much more stable than usual but I made a mistake when I went out on my first set of new tyres and I could not take advantage of them.

"We managed to do a couple of good long runs so I believe we are looking pretty good for the rest of the weekend."